Street food feast at Shilin Night Market in Taipei

You can’t go to Taipei and not hit up a street market or two, or three…or more.There are many street markets in Taipei, but as I was only there for three days, I only had the chance to hit up two. On one of the afternoons, I went to Ximending, which is more of a shopping district. (Okay, I admit, I wanted to go to UNIQLO.) I sampled a few street foods there, such as the fried chicken cutlet, grilled mochi, oyster vermicelli with pig intestine, and boba tea from 50 Lan (which can be found everywhere).It wasn’t until nighttime that I got a true taste of Taiwanese street food at Shilin night market. We took a cab here after our aperitif of beef noodle soup and scallion pancakes, so my stomach only had so much room left in which to stuff more edible goodies.I tried fried mushrooms, pork sausage, and almond tea (which I suspect gave me diarrhea later), but my favorite tasty treat at the night market was surprisingly the stinky tofu.The first time I ever had stinky tofu, it was at a Taiwanese restaurant in Houston, and it wasn’t the fried kind. The aroma was more pungent than durian, the taste like a punch in the throat.But because I was in Taipei, I vowed I’d give it a second try—after all, I’ve got to practice what I preached in my TEDxTaipei Talk. I was told the fried stinky tofu is more palatable, and you’re supposed to seek out the stall whose stinky tofu scent is milder. This supposedly indicates fresher oil and less rancid tofu. And so I got in line at a stall where the aroma was bearable and the queue lengthy. All these people in line couldn’t be wrong, right?Indeed, I was delighted to find the stinky tofu delicious. It’s crispy on the outside with a mildly funky flavor on the inside.I wanted to end the nigh on a high note, so I made my way back to the hotel after that. I wish I’d had more time (and tummy space) to explore the night markets of Taipei. Next time…Have you been to Taipei? Which night market is your favorite, and which street snack do you like most?Shilin Night MarketBetween Dadong Rd., Danan Rd., Wenlin Rd. and Jihua Rd.Phone: +886 2 2349-1635